Dr. chem. Jānis Veliks Leading researcher and Head of the Laboratory of Organic Synthesis, Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis. The main research focus of Jānis Veliks is the development of new – efficient, easy to use and stable – fluoromethylene group reagents for the simultaneous introduction of fluorine and carbon atoms into organic compounds. These reagents allow new fluorinated molecules to be formed more easily and their most important potential application is in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, as on average one in four of them contains at least one fluorine atom.

Ph. D. Brigita Dejus, Leading researcher, Water Research and Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Riga Technical University (RTU). Brigita is a young RTU researcher whose research work is related to water, wastewater monitoring and treatment. She developed her PhD thesis while studying at RTU and the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology, studying the potential of using microscopic fungi in the treatment of wastewater from pharmaceutically active substances.

Dr. med. Linda Gailīte, Leading researcher and Head of the Scientific Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Riga Stradins University. Linda has been working in the RSU Scientific Laboratory of Molecular Genetics since 2002. The main activity of the laboratory is genetic analysis, studying acquired or inherited DNA changes in various diseases and signs. Linda has developed a genetic test, GENTERF, for the simultaneous detection of genetic variations important for reproduction, which helps to diagnose known genetic causes of infertility more quickly.